Creative Corner: A workplace you can believe in

Sep. 28, 2011

Flip Brown

Written by

Flip Brown

Vermont is blessed in terms of having creative, imaginative, and even quirky (in a positive sense) entrepreneurs and business owners. A lot of us – whether we grew up here or moved here – decided along the way that we didn’t want to spend 40-plus hours a week working in rigid, stifling, authoritarian environments, so we set out to create workplace cultures that emphasize connection, collaboration, and cohesiveness.

However, just hiring a bunch of great people and expecting everyone to magically figure it out will get you somewhere down the path to success, but not far enough.

Here are some observations that have come from being deep inside more than 50 Vermont organizations over the last 15 years:

• It is important to find the best mix between open inclusiveness and crisp decisiveness. Too much worrying about how everyone feels or thinks on a particular topic leads to being ineffectual, and too much imposition of directives without bringing others along leads to a sense of resentment. In either case the results won’t be good.

• Most people do best when they have a reasonable sense of autonomy in how they design and perform their daily tasks, however too much of the “benevolent Lone Ranger syndrome” will harm consistency in your product or service.

• At times we (or our teammates) may need assistance in figuring out how to balance our own needs, opinions, and feelings with that of the greater good at work.

• One of the most useful tools is the art of “supportive confrontation” – where we address the underlying business principles at hand clearly and directly, without making or taking it personally, even when it requires taking a risk.

• There appears to be a new tide of institutionalized “overwhelmedness” afoot. I define this as workers feeling that they can’t possibly do what’s demanded of them in the allotted time, so they engage in less-productive behaviors that lead to low productivity. On both the individual and organizational level, it’s important to examine how these beliefs and behaviors are held, discussed, and changed.

• Recent research strongly suggests a clear correlation between employees’ sense of engagement, including their feelings of accomplishment, and bottom-line business results. While managers and supervisors obviously need strong operational and financial skills, the ability to make employees feel appreciated should not be overlooked in the pursuit of excellence.

• One thing that is always in our control is our internal dialog. Many of us set extremely high or unrealistic standards for ourselves, and then put ourselves down when we don’t do everything we think we should. Reframing and rebalancing are important techniques in order to simply do the best we can. (Is it possible to actually do more than that?).

The ability to observe, describe, and change patterns of behavior in the workplace is not automatic, easy, or quick. However it can really pay off for a business, producing greater success and satisfaction for all.